Accounting apparatus



Dec. 30, 1952 J.C. NELSON 2,623,762

I ACCOUNTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1950 2 SHEETS$l-1EET l Dollar:

I INVENTOR. (74445.5 C. ATE-1.50M,

BY I

ATraeA/EY.

30, 1952 J. c. NELSON ACCOUNTING APPARATUS 2 SHEETS-SI-IEET 2 Filed Oct.17, 1950 Illlll llllllllllllllll [ll/Il/ll/ll III Elli: Q //A'.

AM. fl ma; my W @Y 8 Patented Dec. 30, 1952 James 0. Nelson, SanGabriel, Califl, assignor to Business Systems, Incorporated, LosAngeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application October 17,1950, Serial No. 190,574

This invention relates generally to an apparatus for facilitating thekeeping of collated business records and more particularly discloses anapparatus of lighweight portable construction for preparing and keepingbusiness records pertaining to payrolls, accounts receivable,installment sales and the like.

It is well known that in recent years it has become increasinglynecessary for business establishments to prepare and maintain relativelycomplex business records. An outstanding example is illustrated by thepayroll records which are required to be kept for each employee;Withholdin taxes and deductions of many kinds have greatly increased theaccounting tasks imposed upon the employer. In large business complexmachinery of the automatic or semi-automatic type has been developed tomeet this need, but such an installation is necessarily very expensiveand can be used efficiently only in establishments having a large numberof employees. Smaller businesses in general cannot afford such complexequipment and it is particularly in such establishments that myinvention finds its greatest usefulness. Even businesses having a. largenumber of employees are frequently faced with the problemof payingemployees or conducting other financial transactions at locationsdistantfrom the central office of the business, for instance on constructionprojects and the like, and in these situations also my invention proveshighly useful.

Prevention of errors in business records is of the greatest importance,and when the same entry must be made on several different forms itisnecessary to prove each of the several forms unless the entries aremade simultaneously, as by a transfer medium such as carbon paper. Inthe latter case only one proof suflices to check all entries.

Attempts have been made in the past to provide accounting apparatus tomeet the above problems, but the devices have been generallyunsatisfactory in many respects. Some employ specially prepared formsmade up in shingled sets, wherein each individual form in a set isdisplaced laterally or longitudinally from the adjacent form in the set.By this device, entries made on marginal portions of successive formsare reproduced by carbon'paper or the like on successive lines of anunderlying journal or ledger sheet. However, such sets of shingled formsare laborious to prepare and expensive to purchase.

Other prior art apparatuses are characterized by projecting members ofmetal orother rigid material, said members being periodically moved 6Claims. (Cl. 282-29) during operation. Such apparatuses occupy arelatively large amount of area on a desk or other supportingsurface,and are cumbersome and awkward in use. i

Furthermore, from the standpoint of fatigue it is desirable that theoperator not be required to shift his writing position appreciablyduring use. of theapparatus. When entries on successive forms may bemade in substantially the same writing position, fatigue and consequenterrors due thereto are minimized.

My invention provides, a solution to the above needs in the 'formof anovel and efficient device havingfew movingparts and well adapted foruse in many business activities. It has for its principal object theprovision of a novel device to facilitate the making of multipleaccounting I A. stillfurthenobjeot is toprovidesu ch a device which isefficient in design. and which can be manufactured .comparativelyinexpensively. These and other. objects and purposes of my 7 inventionwill become clear from a study of the tion being shown indotted outline.

Rig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line III- II of Fig; l.

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary sectional view taken on lineIV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line VV of Fig. '1

showing a preferred form of carrier and carrier Fig. fiisa fragmentarysectional viewtaken online'VI -V I of Fig. 1. r

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on line VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a preferred construction of accountingforms used in connection with my invention.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View taken on line IX-IX of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is a rear elevational view of the device, a portion of the coverbeing broken away.

My invention includes a base plate |2 preferably rectangular in form andprovided with a hinged cover or cover plate l4 overlying the upperportion of base plate |2. In the illustrated embodiment I provide meansalong one edge of base plate l2, which may be the right edge thereof,for locating a group of accounting forms in one of a plurality ofdiscrete positions. On the opposite side of base plate I2 I providemeans for releasably clamping a pad of individually detachableaccounting forms which in the present illustration are pay checks. Meansare provided for adjustably positioning a third accounting form, saidmeans preferably including resilient frictional idler rollers carried bythe hinged cover plate Hi and cooperating when the cover plate islowered with a manually actuable transverse resilient frictional rollerrotatably carried by base plate |2. A transfer medium such as carbonpaper or the like is provided by which an entry made upon the marginalportion of a pay check will be reproduced in the proper location on oneor more underlying accounting forms.

Referring in detail to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2thereof, a rectangular base plate l2 may be provided with downwardlyextending side walls l and I6. Downwardly extending rear end wall l8 andfront end wall l9 extend transversely beneath base plate |2 and join theside walls l5 and I6. Preferably rear end wall It is of somewhat greaterheight than front end wall IS in order that base plate l2 may slopedownwardly toward the front for greater convenience in use as will bebetter understood later. At the rear upper end of the side walls thereare provided a pair of trunnions 2| and 22 in which are mounted pinionsor screws 23 and 24 respectively. Hinged cover plate I i is providedwith a pair of downwardly and rearwardly extending ears 25 and 26 whichhave openings formed therein rotatably engaging pinions 23 and 24. Thuscover plate |4 may be raised to the position shown in dotted outline inFig. 2 or may be lowered to the position shown in full lines. Coverplate l4 when in its lowered position overlies only a portion of baseplate |2, which may be approximately the upper or rear quarter of thebase plate, and, as best appears in Figs. 2 and 10, the rear edge l3 ofcover plate vided with an opening 38 in which a roller shaft 31 isjournalled. The bracket 3| attached to left side wall l5, seen ingreater detail in Figs. 6 and 7, includes means for yieldably retainingshaft 37 at a selected one of a plurality of positions. Shaft 3'! isprovided with a portion 4| of polygonal cross section where the shaft isjournalled in bracket 3|. As best appears in Fig. 7, bracket 3| includesa channel 42 extending downwardly from opening 33 formed in bracket 3|.Within channel 42 a ball 44 and a compression member 46 are maintainedin position by suitable retaining means, such as set screw 43 threadedlyreceived in the lower end of channel 42. Manually operable means, suchas knob 5|, is connected to the outer end of rectilinear portion 4| ofshaft 31, being held thereon asbyset screw 52. A collar 50 with threadedset screw 59 is carried upon shaft 31 and slidably abuts the inner faceof bracket 3| in order to properly position shaft 31 relative to baseplate |2.

It will now be understood that manual rotation of knob 5| will rotateshaft 31 and resilient frictional roller 5% carried on the shaft, andthe shaft will assume any one of a number of discrete positions. In thepresent illustration, shaft 3'! will assume any one of four positions,since ball M forced against the rectilinear sides of portion 4| willurge the shaft into the position shown in Fig. 7 wherein ball 44 restscentrally on one of said rectilinear sides. Cover plate I4 is providedon its lower surface with rotatably mounted resilient idler rollers 6|,62 and 63, and when cover plate I4 is in its lowered position idlerrollers 6|, 82 and 53 frictionally engage resilient roller 53 carried onshaft 31. As Will be later described in detail, accounting form |58 isfrictionally gripped between roller 54 beneath and idler rollers El, 62and 63 above, whereby rotation of knob 5| advances form I58 rearwardlyby spaced discrete steps.

A longitudinally extending channel H is formed in base plate I2 adjacentone edge thereof. Immediately beneath channel 'il there is provided acarrier rod 12 extending the entire length of channel H. The carrier rodis received in recesses 73 and M formed in bosses l5 and 16 on the undersurface of base plate |2. One of the bosses, as 16, may be removablyattached to base plate |2 by threaded screw 11. Carrier rod 72 isprovided with a plurality of circumferential indentations 78. A carrierindicated generally at 8| includes a downwardly extending channel 82having disposed therein a spherical memberv 83, a compression member 84and a retaining means, such as set screw 85. It will be seen thatcarrier 8| may be moved along carrier rod 52 and will seek to come torest along said rod at any point where spherical member 83 engages oneof the indentations l8. Carrier BI is provided on its upper surface withregistering means such as dowel pins 81 and 88 which-extend upwardlythrough channel H and well above the upper surface of base plate |2.

On the side of base plate i2 opposite channel 7| is provided areleasable retainer or clamping means indicated generally at 9|.Clamping means 3| includes a clamp bar 92 provided with an inwardlyextending lip 94 (see Fig. 4). Clamp bar 92 is provided with a pair ofdownwardly extending screws 36 and 9! threadedly received in recesses 98and 39 respectively formed in clamping bar 92. A pair of aperturedbosses HM and I32. are provided in side Wall IS. The apertures in saidbosses receive the shanks of screws 88 and 97 and are provided withenlarged portions Hi6 and I9! for receiving compression members Hi8 andI89. Thus clamping bar 92 is urged downwardly by the force ofcompression members I98 and I99 bearing against the annu-.

lar portions of apertures I 06 and I01 and the heads of screws 96 and91.

A shaft I II is rotatably journalled in boss II2 of side wall I5 and isprovided with an eccentric portion II4. A knob H6 is attached to shaftIII and is retained thereon as by set screw II8. A follower rod I2I isthreadedly received in clamping bar 92 and its lower end rests uponeccentric portion II4 of shaft II I. Manual rotation of shaft III bymeans of knob II6 causes follower rod I2I to rise or fall on eccentricH4 and thus to raise or lower clamping bar 92. The inner end of shaftIII may be provided with a radially extending pin I22, and a pair ofstop members I23 and I24 project inwardly from side wall I5 into theplane of movement of pin I22. Thus shaft III is permitted only a limitedrotation, the extent of said rotation being indicated by two positionsof pin I22 as shown in Fig.

3. It will be evident that the rotation of knob II6 which moves pin I22into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 allows compressionmembers I08 and I09 to urge clamping bar 92 downwardly, whereby lip 94will securely grip one edge of a pad or set of accounting formsindicated gener-- ally at I3I in position upon base plate I2. Ro tationof knob H9 in the opposite direction, so that pin I 22 assumes theposition shown in dotted outline in Fig. 3, causes eccentric II4 toraise follower rod I2I and clamping bar 92 against the force ofcompression members I and I09, thus releasing accounting forms I3I.

In order to properly position the pad of accounting forms I3Ilongitudinally upon base plate I2 I may provide a dowel pin I IIadjacent retainer 9|. Said pin MI is provided with a circular shank I42received in an aperture I43 formed in base plate I2. A pair of arcuatewedges I (see Fig. i) are formed on the lower surface of base plate I2and cooperate with a pair of projecting pins I45 formed at the lower endof shank I422. The upper end of dowel pin MI is provided with anenlarged head I41, preferably knurled as shown. A pair of radial slotsI48 extend outwardly from aperture I43 in base plate I2, and allow dowelpin I4I to be inserted or withdrawn when radial pins I45 register withslots I48. As best appears in Fig. l, dowel pin I M after being insertedin aperture I43 may be manually rotated approximately one-eighth of aturn,-

whereby radial pins I45 are slidably wedged against arcuate surfacesI44. Dowel pin I4I will thus be retained in position against accidentaldislodgement during use of the device. I may also provide an aperture IIformed in base plate I2. adjacent an edge thereof having radiallydirected slots I52 for receiving dowel pin I4I when said dowel pin isnot needed forpositioning accounting forms. It will be seen that pad I3Iis accurately positioned transversely of. base plate I2 by contact ofpad I3I against the inner face of clamping bar 92 beneath lip 94.

Additional positioning means may be provided adjacent the front edge ofbase plate I2 in the form of upstanding bosses I55 and I56. Anaccounting form I58 may thereby be positioned accurately upon base plateI2, being placed in contact with dowel pin I iI and upstanding bossesI55 and I56.

In the present illustration it is assumedv that three simultaneousrecords are to be made of an employees pay account. Conventionally anaccounting form is established for each employee whereon such items asTotal Earnings, Withholding Tax, Social Security Deductions and the.like may be entered for. each pay period.

Such a form, hereinafter referred to as an Earnings Record, is indicatedgenerally at IIBI and includes apertures I52 and I163 adapted toregister with dowel pins 81 and 83 respectively. Accounting form I58 maybe a .Payroll Journal on which the same numerical entries made on formIIiI are to be entered; Payroll Journal I58 is provided with spacedcolumnar rulings as shown, said rulings being arranged to register withcorresponding. columnar rulings borne by Earnings Record The. thirdsimultaneous accounting record to be made is that provided upon amarginal detachable portion of the pay check itself. Each check isprovided with perforations by which portions may be manually detachedfrom the check before negotiating it. Said perforations may include aperforated line I32 by which an individual check may be detached fromportion I32 gripped by clamping means 9 I. A transverse perforated lineI33 is provided to permit the payee to detach and retain remittance stubI35 prior to negotiating the check proper I35; a third perforated lineI34 permits the detaching of stub I34, which may contain printedinstructions to the payee regarding the desirability of retainingremittance stub I35. Remittance stub I35 is provided with spacedcolumnar rulings corresponding to those on Earnings Record I5I andPayroll Journal I58. As best appears in Fig. 8 accounting forms I3I arepreferably assembled as by adhesive into a pad or set including, say, 25forms. Immediately beneath the lowermost accounting form I3I there aretwo sheets I31 and I38, each having its respective upper portion 131 andI33 provided with, a transfer medium such as conventional carbon paper.It is to be noted that the carbonized strip-s underlie only remittancestubs I35, and do not extend beneath checks proper I36. For conveniencein handling the pad of accounting forms I 3|, I may also provide in thepad a backing strip I39 underlying sheets I31 and I38.

In the use of my device for facilitating the payingof employees, theEarnings Records I6l of employees to be paid are mounted upon carrier8|, dowel pins 8.! and 39 accurately positioning Earnings Records IBI asheretofore described. It will be understood that successive horizontallines I66 of Earnings Records IGI indicate sequential pay periods whichin the present illustration may be assumed tobe a week. Carrier 8! istherefore positioned along carrier rod I2 so that the correct horizontalline its is positioned beneath the ruled entry blanks of remittance stubI35. As will be evident the position of carrier BI and Earnings RecordsIEI carried thereby will not be changed during the paying of employeesfor any given pay period. I prefer tomount the same number of EarningsRecords I3I upon carrier 8I as the number of checks I 35 assembled inpad I 3I in the present illustration 25. As appears in Fig. 2,transverse, resilient roller 54 is. spaced above base plate I2 so thatEarnings Records I6I may be moved rearwardly or frontwardly on baseplate I2 passing beneath and not contacting resilient roller 54.Earnings Records I6] may be moved rearwardly as far as permitted bycarrier 8I, since rear edge I3 of hinged cover plate I4 is spaced abovebase plate I2.

Carrier BI and Earnings Records IBI having been correctly located, thepad I3I of checks is clamped by clamping means 9|. Backing strip I39 ispositioned on base plate I2 beneath Earnings Records IBI, and sheet I3!is laid above the 7 Earnings Records; All other .elements of pad I31 areloosely folded "leftwardly over clamping means 9|. The cover platel l ismoved to its raised position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2. PayrollJournal I58 is then positioned upon base plate I2 by contacting dowelpin MI and upstanding bosses I55 and I55 as previously described. Theposition of boss I56 is accurately correlated with the horizontalrulings of Payroll Journal I58 so that those rulings will exactlyregister with horizontal rulings I66 of Earnings Record IBI when carrier8| engages one of the circumferential indentations 18 on carrier rod 12.The upper marginal portion of Payroll Journal I58 is placed uponresilient roller 54 as best appears in Fig. 2, and when cover plate I4is moved to its lowered position as shown in full lines in Fig. 2,resilient idler rollers BI, 62 and 63 cooperate with roller 54 infrictionally gripping the upper marginal portion of Payroll Journal I58.Thus manual rotation of knob 51 moves PayrollJournal I58 upwardly. Thespacing mechanism previously described in connection with Figs. 6 and 7is arranged to move Payroll Journal I58 exactly a distance equal to thespacing between adjacent horizontal rulings I66 on Earnings Record I I.

The Payroll Journal I58 having been correctly positioned, sheet I38 andthe adjacent check I36 are folded rightwardly so that they overlie aportion of the Payroll Journal. The remaining checks in pad I3I remainloosely folded leftwa-rdly away from base plate I2.

When filling in a pay check for issue to an employee, the employees nameis written in the space III on remittance stub I35. Hours worked,

total earnings, deductions of various sorts, net

pay and other appropriate notations are entered in the correct portionsof remittance stub I on the same line as the name space Ill and it willbe seen that all entries made upon said stub I35 will be duplicated bymeans of carbonized strip I38 upon Payroll Journal I53. Furthermore, allentries made upon the remittance stub except the name of the employeeentered in space III will likewise be transferred onto Earnings Record I6| by means of carbonized strip I31. It is, of course, not necessary forthe employees name to be duplicated upon Earnings Record I6I, since eachof said Earnings Records I6I is for an individual employee, Whose nameappears as at I15 on the Earnings Record. Then, after completing the paycheck and detaching it together with its remittance stub I35 alongperforated line I32, the uppermost Earnings Record Eti is removed fromcarrier 8i and placed to one side. It is to be noted that removal of theuppermost individual Earnings Record IBI may be accomplished withoutdisturbing the setting of Payroll Journal I58, since the Earnings Recordto be removed may be slid frontwardly and to the righ after beingdetached from dowel pins 2? and 33 of carrier 8!. Rotation of knob 5.3through one interval (in the present instance, a quarter turn) will thenposition Payroll Journal I58 correctly for the next remittance stub E35and pay check to be made out. Said next checi: is moved into positionoverlying sheet lts the remaining unused checks being left looselyfolded as previously described. Thus the checks in set or pad I55 areused in a sequence the reverse of the conventional use of a pad ofchecks. That is, the check. adjacent lower sheet 355 is the first checkto used in the pad. The individual checks above the-lowermost check inthe pad are folded lefte ardly over clamping means all until later useof each check in sequence.

entries on the several forms are identical.

' When pre-numbered checks are used and it is desired to issue them inthe sequence corresponding to their numbers, the check bearing thesmallest number is the check next to sheet I33. In the presentillustration wherein pad I3I includes 25 checks, let it be assumed thatthe checks are Dre-Printed to bear the Numbers 1151 to 1175 inclusive,Check Number 1151 is then the lowermost check in the pad or set I3I, andis therefore the check closest to the observer in viewing Fig. ,8. Itwill now be understood that the situation depicted in Fig. 1 mayrepresent either the apparatus and forms before any checks have beenfilled in and before the checks have been loosely folded leftwardly aspreviously described, or the situation existing after the firsttwenty-four checks of pad I3I have been issued and the last check,Number 1175, is ready to be filled in and issued.

Thus I have provided a device for simultaneously making entries on thethree fundamental forms necessary in maintaining payroll accounts foremployees. Only one proof of an entry is necessary since transfer mediuminsures that all Although I have described my device in detail inconnection with its use for completing payroll records, it will beimmediately evident to those skilled in the art that the device isadmirably adapted to be used in many other business activities. Forinstance, in the case of accounts receivable, the ledger, the statementand either sales or cash receipts journal may be posted at one time. Inrecording accounts payable, a voucher check (or remittance statement andaccounts payable ledger) may be posted simultaneously with eithervoucher register or check record.

The device is especially applicable in maintaining records ofinstallment accounts since the ledger, the passbook or receipt and thecollection register may be simultaneously posted. Similarly, whenmerchandise is sold on a lay-away plan, the customers lay-away receipt,the stores layaway ledger and. the cash blotter may be written in oneoperation. Many other applications of the device may be made.

It is especially to be noted that in the embodiment herein described andillustrated in detail, as Well as in the other uses of the device justmentioned, all writing by the operator is done in the same writingposition for successive checks, receipts or similar forms. Theindividual operator can therefore locate the apparatus on a desk ortable to best suit his own preference in order to minimize fatigue, andthe position thus selected need not be changed from time to time duringuse.

Changes and modifications in the mechanical functioning of portions ofthe device will occur to those skilled in the art and all suchmodifications Within the scope of the invention are embraced by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In an accounting apparatus the combination of: a base plate; africtional roller mounted for rotation above said base plate andextending transversely thereof; a shaft supporting said transverseroller, a frictional idler roller selectively positionable in grippingrelation with said transverse roller; means including a polygonal crosssectional portion on said shaft and a biased element urged against saidportion for yieldingly urging said transverse roller into successiveequally angularlyspaced positions during manual rotation thereof wherebya first accounting form gripped between said frictional rollers is movedthrough successive equal pro-determined distances; and a spring-biasedretainer cooperative with a marginal portion of one edge of said baseplate for releasably clamping an end portion of second accounting formsoverlying at least a portion of said first accounting form.

2. A combination as stated in claim 1 including means lying below anedge margin opposite to the retainer for selectively positioning a thirdaccounting form, underlying at least a portion of said first and secondaccounting forms, at successive points longitudinal of said base platespaced apart by said equal pro-determined distance.

3. A device for facilitating the making of simultaneous accountingentries on a plurality of different accounting forms comprising: a baseplate having a flat, substantially unobstructed top surface; a carrierrod extending below one longi tudinal edge margin of said base plate; acarrier selectively positionable at a plurality of equally spaceddiscrete points along said carrier rod and provided with upstandingpositioning members projecting above the top surface of said plate forregistration with a first accounting form; a cover plate pivotallymounted along a transverse edge of said base plate and normallyoverlying a transverse marginal portion of said base plate; a frictionalroller carried by said base plate for rotation thereabove, and extendingtransversely thereof beneath said cover plate; a frictional idler rollercarried by said cover plate for gripping relation with said transverseroller; means for yieldingly urging said transverse roller intosuccessive equally angularly spaced positions during manual rotationthereof whereby a second accounting form gripped between said frictionalrollers is moved through intervals correlated to the spacing of saiddiscrete points on said carrier rod; a downwardly biased clamping meanscarried by the base plate at an intermediate portion of the otherlongitudinal edge margin, said clamping means being cooperative with thelatter edge margin of said base plate for releasably holding a thirdaccounting form, whereby a virtually unobstructed writing working areais provided below the cover plate for making entries on said accountingforms.

4. In an accounting apparatus, the combination of: a base plate; a coverplate pivotally mounted along a transverse edge of said base plate andnormally overlying a transverse marginal portion of said base plate; africtional roller carried by said base plate for rotation thereabove andextending transversely thereof beneath said cover plate; a frictionalidler roller carried by said cover plate for gripping relation with saidtransverse roller; means for yieldingly urging said transverse rollerinto successive equally angularly spaced positions during manualrotation thereof whereby a first accounting form gripped between saidfrictional rollers is moved through successive equal predetermineddistances; and a spring biased retainer cooperative with said base platefor releasably clamping an end portion of second accounting formsoverlying at least a portion of said first accounting form.

5. A combination as stated in claim 4 including means lying below saidbase plate for selectively positioning a third accounting form,underlying at least a portion of said first and second accounting forms,at successive points longitudinal of said base plate spaced apart bysaid equal predetermined distance.

6. A combination as stated in claim 4 including a carrier rod below saidbase plate, supported thereby and extending longitudinally thereof, anda carrier selectively positionable at a plurality of equally spaceddiscrete points along said carrier rod and provided with upstandingpositioning members projecting above the top surface of said plate forregistration with a third accounting form.

JAMES C. NELSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 971,725 Brunson Oct. 4, 19102,163,193 Critchfield June 20, 1939 2,198,580 McNabb Apr. 23, 19402,301,482 Uhl Nov. 10, 1942 2,344,453 Payne Mar. 14, 1944 2,485,513Straus Oct. 18, 1949 2,524,128 Jones Oct. 3, 1950

